Equator Coffee: A Planet-Friendly Way To Drink Coffee
Credit: Equator Coffees
Find out how this planet-friendly coffee is helping the environment.
Coffee is an essential morning staple. In fact, 62% of Americans drink coffee daily, and 63% drink it more than any other beverage, including water. Altogether, the United States consumes approximately 1.62 billion pounds of coffee per year, making it the world's largest coffee consumer.
At consumption at this scale, the United States is solely exasperating the need for coffee beans, increasing the pressures on farmers and suppliers to keep up with the demand.
The environmental issue caused by coffee farming is that it results in environmental destruction and inherently creates various unethical implications from the source, beginning right when the seed is planted in the ground.
Why is coffee unethical and unsustainable?
Coffee beans are ripened through processes that create pollution and increase carbon emissions. Unfortunately, this is not the only impact.
Environmental destruction
Coffee is grown in rainforests, which are some of the most diverse and endangered parts of the planet. Coffee is normally produced under the shade of the rainforest's canopy. Due to the high demand for coffee, farmers now have to grow the plants in direct sunlight. To guarantee the success of the plants in these unfavorable locations, farmers have resorted to clear-cutting the rainforests to create new plots for the coffee.
Erosion
Coffee plantations are found at high elevations, and with the removal of forest areas, there is an increase in erosion. In order to increase the yield of coffee crops and ensure there is no loss, farmers use pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides. As erosion progresses, these agrochemicals run down to areas that are below the plantations, poisoning inhabitants, humans, animals, and marine life.
Slavery and child labor
In a study conducted in 2016, coffee titans such as Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts openly admitted that they "may" sell coffee where working conditions resembled slavery. Coffee has been found to be one of the top industries using enslaved children for production, particularly in nations such as Guatemala and Colombia.
Credit: Equator Coffees
Exploitation of farmers and workers
Coffee plantations are found in nations such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Central America. These farmers are faced with grueling work as coffee crops only have a single season per year, which is only one chance for these farmers to turn a profit. In the United States, crop contracts are paid out multiple times a year, and farmers can rest assured that the government insures the crops themselves.
Farmers in nations such as Central America have no protection from any loss of crops due to droughts or infection.
These coffee farmers are only paid once a year after their beans are sold at harvest time. The payment amount? Farmers have been found to earn less than a dollar per pound for their beans.
In Brazil, which is one of the largest global producers of coffee, forty percent of agricultural workers in Brazil are estimated to earn $190 per month. This is less than 25% of what Brazil's Federal Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE) considers a living wage for a family to cover expenses.
Why don't all coffee brands support planet-friendly farming?
Coffee is seen as a luxury item, and though it is marketed as a necessity, it isn't necessarily a dietary need. Due to it being a luxury item, companies can charge the consumer more and offer farmers less than livable wages for the product.
In reality, coffee is not a luxury for many but a necessity.
The best way to make a difference is by opting out of non-planet-friendly coffee companies and selecting a company with a green business model instead.
What is the best planet-friendly coffee company?
We did the research and found Equator Coffees is the best choice.
Equator Coffees was founded on the premise that coffee can be a force for good. Founders Brooke and Helen began roasting and selling coffee from a garage in Marin County in 1995. They believed coffee could be roasted better, brewed better, and—most importantly—sourced in a way that positively impacts lives. Equator Coffees soon became a high-impact coffee company dedicated to quality, sustainability, and social responsibility.
Planet-friendly features:
Certified B Corp since 2011
Equator Coffees is actually the first California coffee roaster to achieve B Corp certification. This third-party certification requires the company to demonstrate transparency and accountability across its supply chain and measure the positive impact it creates for employees, the community, and the environment.
Regenerative Farming Practices
Equator's coffee team ensures the company leads the way in delivering ethically sourced and environmentally conscious coffee.
The company's Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC®) partnerships grew from one in 2022 to three in 2023, with farms like Nicaragua Sacaclí, Nicaragua Las Hermanas, and Peru Chirinos. In 2024, Equator expanded to at least five ROC® partnerships.
Credit: Equator Coffees
2023 also marked the debut of Equator's first co-fermented coffee, an innovative processing method driven by producers at Finca Santa Monica in Colombia. The coffee team continues to support and empower producers to experiment with new processing techniques, adding value at the farm level within the supply chain.
Environmental Impact
To reduce its environmental impact, Equator has invested in energy-efficient Loring Smart Roasters, which reduce carbon emissions per batch by 80%. With 50 hours of roasting per week and three batches per hour, every aspect of the roasting process is carefully considered.
Equator Coffees also takes steps to reduce its carbon footprint through initiatives such as:
Donating burlap coffee bags to local farms
Composting chaff locally
Upcycling coffee excess with ExtraFood
Using Kraft paper packing tape
Credit: Equator Coffees
How else can you find planet-friendly coffee?
Look out for these labels on the coffee bags you are purchasing:
Organic
Items with the USDA Organic seal are verified by government-accredited inspectors and require that the farm uses no synthetic pesticides, has a plan to prevent excess erosion, and is spaced enough that non-organic fertilizers and pesticides won't spread.
Fair Trade Certified
Only labels with the complete phrase "Fair Trade Certified" require a minimum price per pound to the farmer, such as $1.40 for non-organic and $1.70 for organic, with a $0.20 community-development premium. "Fair Trade," alone with no association with Fairtrade International or Fair Trade USA, has no validity.
Where can I buy ethically sourced coffee?
We recommend Ethical Bean and Equator Coffees to purchase your coffee, which was founded solely to protect and support coffee farmers worldwide.
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